Garment hanger hook attaching device



May 26, 1953 J. H. MYERS 2,639,39

GARMENT HANGER HOOK ATTACHING DEVICE- Filed May 25, 1949 s Sheets-Sheet 1 May 26, 1953 J.H. MYERS GARMENT HANGER HOOK-ATTACHING DEVICE Z5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 25, 1949 Join "H. M a/ 3 7- Patented May 26, 1953 GARMENT HANGER HOOK ATTACHING DEVICE j John H. Myers, StvPaul, Minn, assignor to Waldorf Paper Products Company, St. Paul, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Application May 25, 1949, Serial No. 95,353

My invention relates to an improvement in coat hanger hook attaching device wherein it is desired to provide a simple and effective means of attaching a wire hook to a coat hanger formed of paper board or similar material. In-the manufacture of coat hangers formed of paper board and similar material such as those illustrated in Patent No. 2,229,977 issued to Reynolds Guyer, and others, a channel shaped cross member is hingedly connected to channel shaped arms. These arms converge upwardly from the ends of the cross bar and are connected to a hook. In View of the fact that the arms nest upon the channel shaped cross member during storage and shipment the extremities thereof are provided with opposite sides which are spaced substantially apart. In order to firmly connect these arms, it is desirable to compress the arm ends together and engage them in a suitable hook. A hook capable of accomplishing the desired result is illustrated in the application of Carl N. Bergstrom, Serial No. 58,290, filed May 4, 1948.

Some means must be provided for holding the garment hooks in place during the assembly operation. It is extremely difiioult to hold the ends of the hanger arms in overlapping-relation with one hand and to attach the hook to them with th other hand. This difficulty has been one of the greatest drawbacks to a hanger of the type described. If the hook is not firmly engaged in place, much of the advantage of the hanger is lost. I

. The object of the present invention lies in the provision of an anvil which will readily get the hook into proper position. In order that the hanger and hook be assembled in a minimum of time, it is necessary that the hook drop into proper position almost automatically when dropped onto the anvil. Mystructure is so designed as to be capable of accomplishing this result.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of an anvil which engages the rounded hook end of the hook and also provides a shoulder bearin against the opposite end of the hook. ihe hanger is connected by pulling the overlapped arm ends of the hanger into a hook shaped recess at the shank end of the hook. By holding the shank end of the hook firmly against longitudinal movement in one direction, the necessary pull may be exerted against the hook without bending or distorting the same.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of ahook supporting anvil having a recess therein into which a retaining portionof 2 Claims. (Cl. 29-284) th hook may extend. As a result this retaining portion of the hook may be flexed out of normal position to permit insertion of the arm ends into the hook shaped shank. The retaining end will spring into normal position as the hanger arms move into place, thereby locking the hanger from accidental disengagement with the hook.

These and other objects and novel features ofmy invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.-

In the drawings forming a part of my specification:

Figure l is a top plan view of my coat hanger hook anvil showing the construction thererof.

Figure 6 is a front elevation view of the type of hanger assembled by use of my anvil.'

Figure 7 is a sectional view through the hanger adjacent to the hook after the hanger has bee assembled.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a pair of hanger arms showing the manner in which the armsare arranged prior to the attachment of I the hook.

I 0 is provided with a flat undersurface so that itmay be mounted upon a table or bench such as l3. In preferred form the base is connected by screws or bolts 'ld so that the projecting arm 12 extends beyond the edge l5 of the bench or surface l6. This projection l! is shaped in general to fit the curvature of the hook end of the hook B. The hook B is usually provided with a rounded upper end l9 which terminates in an outwardly bent extremity 20. The curved portion [9 usually extends substantially 180 and extends into a substantially straight portion 2|. The straight portion 21 is bent at 22 to provide a hook shank 23 which extends substantially radially from the center of curvature of the rounded end [9.

The particular form of hook .B for which the anvil A is designed is illustrated in the various figures of the drawing. As shown in Figure '3 of the drawings the shank 23 is bent at 24 to extend into a hook portion 25 in substantially parallel spaced relation to the shank 23 and above the level of the shank as it is supported on the inclined surface.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings the hook portion 25 is looped at 2B and doubled back upon itself to produce a hook portion 2?! in parallel spaced relation to the hook portion 25. The hook portion 21 is bent at 29 as best indicated in Figures 4 and of the drawings to extend into the spring arm 30 which normally extends in substantially parallel adjacent relation to the shank 23. The bends 24 and 29 are alongside of one another so as to produce in efiect a single bend connecting the hooked portion of the shank to the shank proper i and the spring arm 30.

As is also indicated in Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings, the spring arm 30 is bent at 3i to form a reversely turned retaining arm 32 which is substantially parallel to the spring arm 39 and in spaced relation thereto. The purpose of the retaining arm will be obvious after a further explanation of the invention.

With reference to Figures 6, '7, and 8 of the drawings, it will be noted that the hanger C includes an inverted channel shaped cross bar 33 which is connected along U-shaped hinge lines 33 and 35 to upwardly converging arms 36 and 31. The arms 36 and 31 are channel shaped in cross section and when the hanger is collapsed these cross arms extend over the cross bar 33 in nesting relation therewith. The ends of the cross bars are preferably notched along their upper surfaces so as to produce bifurcated projecting end portions. The arm 36 is provided with projecting spaced ends 39 and 40 while the arm 31 projects to provide spaced projecting ends 4| and 42.

In fastening the arms 36 and 31 together, the first step lies in overlapping the arm ends. It will be noted that the arm ends are preferably shaped so that the projecting end or ends of one arm may be sandwiched between the projecting ends of the other arm. In preferred form the arm ends are overlapped in the manner illustrated in Figure 8 of the drawings in which one projecting end portion of each arm is engaged between the two projecting end portions of the other arm. All of the projecting arm ends are notched so that these ends will not slip out of the hooks after the hook has been attached thereto. The aligned notches in the projecting ends 39, 49, 4| and 42 are indicated by the numeral 43. When the arm ends are interlocked as illustrated in Figure 8 of the drawings the interlocked ends are rested upon the retaining arm 32 of the hook B with the notches 43 in substantial alignment with the hook end of the shank. The hanger is usually held as indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings with a thumb of each hand pressing against the hanger arms near the arm extremities so as to flatten out the arms at the point of attachment with the hook B. This downward pressure by the thumbs also acts to flex the spring arm 30 of the hook so as to swing the retaining arm 32 out of normal position.

As best illustrated in Figures 1 and 5 of the drawings an elongated recess 44 is provided in the inclined surface I6 of the projecting arm l2. This recess 44 extends from a point closely adjacent to the bend 29 throughout the remainder of the length of the spring arm 30. Thus as downward pressure is exerted upon the retaining arm 12, the spring arm 30 is flexed down into the recess as indicated in Figure 5 of the drawings until the overlapping ends 39, 40, 4|, and 42 of the hanger arms 36 and 31 may be engaged between the hook portions and 21 and the hook shank 23 and spring arm 40. The retaining arm 32 normally blocks the passage into or out of the hook shaped shank until the spring arm is flexed as indicated in Figure 5 of the drawings.

When the hanger C is in the position illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings, the arms 36 and 3'! are drawn toward the operator so that the overlapping hanger ends engage between the hook portions 25 and 21 and the shank 23 of the hook. The notches 43 straddle the rounded bends 23 and 29 of the hook so that the ends are firmly held from disengagement. The notches 43 prevent the arms from pulling longitudinally out of the hook-shaped shank end of the hook B.

When the ends of the hanger arms have been drawn into proper position the retaining arm 32 of the hook returns to normal position, blocking the disengagement of the arm ends from the shank hook. In other words, as soon as the overlapped arms pass the end of the retaining arm 32 the spring arm 30 returns to normal position indicated in Figure 4 so that the retaining arm 32 blocks disengagement of the hanger arm ends from the hook shaped shank of the hook.

It will be noted in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings that the projection I1 is provided with a pointed extension 45 which lies along the straight portion 2| of the hook and holds this portion of the hook in place. A raised inclined shoulder 46 extends from the inclined surface IS in spaced relation to the pointed extension 45 so as to guide the straight portion 2| of the hook into fixed position against the pointed extension 45.

It will also be noted that a raised shoulder '41 projects upwardly from the inclined surface 16 at the extremity of the arm l2 so as to engage against the rounded portions 25 and 23 of the hook. This shoulder 41 prevents the hook from being pulled longitudinally of the shank 23 as the hanger body is attached thereto and prevents distortion of the hook during assembly.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my hanger hook attaching device, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Iclaim:

1. An anvil .for supporting hooks designed for attachment to garment hangers, the anvil including a base, a body extending upwardly from the base, an arm integral with the body and projecting to one side of the base, a. substantially flat upper surface on said body and arm, a projection extending upwardly from said flat surface and including an arcuate projection having a pointed extension thereupon, said arcuate projection having tapered walls thereupon, a shoulder projecting upwardly from said flat surface in spaced relation to said pointed projection, said shoulder being spaced from said pointed projection to permit a portion of the hook to be inserted therebetween, a shoulder near the extremity of said arm projecting upwardly from said flat surface, said last named shoulder being designed for engagement with an end of the hook, and an elongated recess in said flat surface between said pointed projection and. said last named shoulder, said recess being of sufficient depth so that the hook can be deformed into the recess when the hanger portion is assembled therewith.

2. An anvil for supporting hooks designed for attachment to garment hangers, the hooks having a rounded end and a projecting shank structure, the anvil including a body designed to support the hooks resting thereupon, the body having a flat upper surface, an arcuate projection having a pointed extension thereon extending upwardly from said base, said arcuate projection having tapered walls thereupon, a shoulder projecting upwardly from said flat surface in substantially parallel relation to one side of said pointed extension, said shoulder being spaced from the pointed of the hook to be deformed thereinto when the hanger portion is assembled therewith.

JOHN H. MYERS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 491,282 Granger Feb. 7, 1893 823,031 Buckley et a1 June 12, 1906 1,268,844 Holinger June 11, 1918 1,820,163 Salz Aug. 25, 1931 1,893,645 Godfrey Jan. 10, 1933 1,922,608 Von Conta Aug. 15, 1933 1,967,132 Pipes July 17, 1934 2,011,105 Hanney Aug. 13, 1935 2,210,360 Caldwell Aug. 6, 1940 2,378,171 Alfandre June 12, 1945 2,405,934 Alfandre Aug. 20, 1946 

